From the look of some of my old info in my heat transfer experiments, I dont think it's going to be possible to store heat underground from one season to the next in a backyard.

Heat gets moved from a system very quickly by a water filled pipe running through it.

In my trials with a thermosyphon and a collector container, I discovered I could pull the heat out of a hot air filled box with just a single thin pipe with the water flow created by the thermosyphon.

I realise that air doesn't have a lot of heat storage potential, but even water in liquid form doesn't hold enough for long term storage (although interestingly (and perhaps pointlessly to this discussion) I did discover recently that water takes 80 times more energy to melt snow than it does to gain 1℃ more.

I think rocks hold around a fifth as much heat as water.

To keep the system warm a growhouse will do wonders.

People seem to get pretty good results with burying their tanks, but I dont think that has much to do with storing heat over the seasons, but rather that the ground has a pretty consistent temperature the deeper you go (for shallow depths - once you get very deep you get lava). I would guess that the bottom of a three meter deep hole would be close to the average yearly temperature of the location. looking...

You could fine tune your temperature control with evaporative cooling a separate container of water (so you dont build up salts in your system's water) then transfering heat from your system into that tank.

A length of shade cloth with water flowing over it and a fan blowing through it should work pretty well to cool a tank of water water.

You could fine tune your temperature control with evaporative cooling a separate container of water (so you dont build up salts in your system's water) then transfering heat from your system into that tank.

A length of shade cloth with water flowing over it and a fan blowing through it should work pretty well to cool a tank of water water.

Yes indeed BW. I have been experimenting with a short piece of 150mm pvc pipe, a tent fan and a micro jet nozzle connected to the garden hose and am finding it cools quite well. I think I would need at least 4 nozzles/misters and a long enough pipe to allow full evaporation of the mist to meaningfully reduce the temp, but placed over the sump or FT should reduce the water temp by about 4C (providing the water absorbs all of the coolth). I have put out feelers for a couple of metre length of suitable pipe (or failing that I'll build a facsimile from plastic mesh and felt/plastic sheet).

I think storing heat long term will be difficult to achieve too, but I will still give one well? hole? a try.

Anyone looking for a nice clean medium to sprout seeds for aquaponics should have a look at sphagnum moss. The seedlings come out with out any damage to roots, and perfectly clean.

You can even place a wad directly into your system and put the seeds into it. Then either leave the moss in place for ever (it doesn't rot, but springs back into life, even though you buy it dry and dead).

You could also just pick it out once the plant had become established.

Here are radishes, and some kind of leek or something growing on my kitchen window sill.

I don't think I have ever seen these mosses alive before, but then again the Southwest USA is about the opposite type of environment it grows in. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphagnum I got to say it is pretty cool looking.

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